John Simm: ‘I met one of the Stone Roses and lost the ability to speak’

Born in Leeds, John Simm, 52, studied performing arts in Blackpool and then moved to London to attend the Drama Centre. After roles in television series such as Cracker and Sex Traffic, he was cast in the BBC’s Life on Mars and received his first Bafta nomination in 2007. His films include 24 Hour Party People and Human Traffic, while on stage he has played Hamlet and Macbeth, and performed in the Pinter at the Pinter season in 2018. Since 2021, he has starred in the ITV detective series Grace, which returns for a third series this month. He is married to the actor Kate Magowan, has two children and lives in East Sussex.

When were you happiest?
After the birth of both my children, although Manchester United winning the treble in 1999 came pretty close.

What is your greatest fear?
Outliving my kids – and rats.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Arrogance, bullying, meanness – just try to be kind, it’s not difficult.

What was your most embarrassing moment?
Going to pieces while meeting John Squire, the lead guitarist of the Stone Roses, backstage after a gig. I completely lost the ability to speak. I told him I had the same guitars as he’d just used on stage, and when he asked me which ones, the words completely went out of my head and there was a huge pause, and then his wife tapped his shoulder and he wandered off.

Describe yourself in three words
A Beatles obsessive.

What would your superpower be?
Time travel.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?
The young bits turning old. In my job, I’m forced to watch myself age on screen over many years.

Who would play you in the film of your life?
I’m not sure that particular project would get green-lit, but if it did, Cate Blanchett.

What scares you about getting older?
That time is running out.

Who is your celebrity crush?
Monica Bellucci and Elvis Presley.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Harrison Ford.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
One shouldn’t feel guilty about pleasure.

What is the worst job you’ve ever done?
Working in a very busy bar in the West End when I was trying to pay my way through drama school. I had to dance in a cage in a vest and cycling shorts to Venus by Bananarama, Greased Lightnin’ and Y.M.C.A. every night. It was excruciating.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Professionally, becoming a relative success in a job that I love; and personally, helping to raise two wonderful children.

What keeps you awake at night?
A couple of years ago we moved to East Sussex – I had been living in London for 35 years – and couldn’t work out why I kept waking up and thinking, what’s that sound? It was actually silence.

Would you rather have more sex, money or fame?
Money.

How would you like to be remembered?
Fondly.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Live in the moment. Enjoy life because time cruelly speeds up as you get older and becomes scarily finite.

What happens when we die?
The end.